This year's tournament produced one of the most thrilling competitions ever for this event.  Teams from as far afield as the east Atlantic and Hawaii boated marlin above the qualifying weight, keeping the result in suspense till late in the night Pacific time.

Madeira and the Canaries started the ball rolling early on July 4th, with Madeira weighing two fish to set the target for the rest of the world to beat. Fish seemed to be on the chew everywhere and Bermuda was next in action, with Capt Travis Butters on the Que Mas weighing a big fish at lines out to set the benchmark higher.  On the same day in Bermuda, Capt James Robinson released two blues caught with the aid of some sharp Hays Hooks to take home $49,000 for top release boat in the simultaneous BLAST tournament.

The Bermuda fish looked odds-on favourites to take out the July 4th top spot until late in the Hawaiian afternoon when Capt McGrew Rice on the Ihu Nui found his angler a really nice fish of 773lbs. Despite another boat fighting a similiar sized beast for 11 hours, McGrew and company took home the honours at the end of the day, thus sealing Kona's sixth win in this prestigious tournament.  Congratulations to all involved.

Several of the fish during the day fell to Legends, this one in Madeira ate an 22 series Andromeda aboard the Balancal !

Here's a nice 188lb ahi caught Saturday by Doug Dierenfield, a Kona dentist entered for the Maui Jim Kona Classic aboard Bill Jardine's little boat. A 12/4 Ogre seems to have been its undoing, it ended the tournament top of the leader board for the AHI division ! Congratulations to both angler and captain !

Oliver King caught a fish in Madeira today that Capt Anibal (pictured) aboard the BALANCAL called over 1000lbs.  The fish took 35 mins to land and is the second grander caught in a week in the world famous big fish waters off the island.

As he was doing that, Capt James Robinson was losing one of similiar size in Bermuda. Capt James rang us minutes after losing the fish, saying it was a classic Bermuda giant that ate the same Andromeda that caught his fish the day before.  Alan Card on the CHALLENGER and Allen de Silva both encountered fish today too.

More as it happens.